KINDERGARTEN READINESS GUIDE
Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten?
Checklist
1. Does your child know his/her first and last names?__ Phone number?__ Birthday?__ Address?__ Can your child write them? yes__ not at this time__ 2. Can your child tie his/her shoes?__ Zip?__ Snap?__ Button?__ Can he/she dress self to go outside?__ Dress self after using the bathroom?__ 3. Does your child know these colors? red__ brown__ pink__ purple__ green__ orange__ gold__ black__ white__ blue__ yellow__ tan__ 4. Does your child know these numbers? 0__ 1__ 2 __ 3__ 4__ 5__ 6__ 7__ 8__ 9__ 10__ 5. How high can your child count? not at all__ up to five__ up to ten__ up to twenty__ up to forty__ up to sixty or more__ 6. How many objects can your child count? 7. Can your child repeat a series of four numbers after hearing them once (example: 3-5-4-7)? yes__ not at this time__ 8. Can your child draw or copy a square? yes__ not at this time__ 9. Does your child know the names of the following shapes? circle__ square__ rectangle__ triangle__ diamond__ oval__ 10. Can your child sing or recite the alphabet? yes__ not at this time__ 11. Check the alphabet letters your child recognizes. Please do them out of order, as they are listed.
B__ E__ X__ F__ A__ O__ P__ C__ W__ Z__ D__
M__ G__ J__ N__ K__ H__ V__ I__ L__ Q__ S__
U__ R__ T__ Y__
Readiness Activities
• Show your child how you use numbers: when you cook, tell time, and shop. • Write the numbers 1 - 9 on a piece of paper and encourage your child to point to the number as you both say it. • Take a “shape walk” and look for all of the shapes in your neighborhood. • While your child is dressing, discuss the color of the clothes your child is putting on. • Look around your house and see how many colors your child can name. • Find picture books without words. Ask your child to tell you the story based on what he/she sees. • Ask your child to tell you a story – write it down and let your child “read” it back to you. • Point out alphabet letters to your child as you read. • Have your child tell you what he/she would like to say to grandma or grandpa. Write down what your child says in a letter and have your child sign it. • Take turns telling part of a story: "Yesterday, I heard a strange noise in the backyard. I looked out and saw a…" Your child continues: "I saw a beautiful horse looking at me. Then it…" Now it's your turn again. Make the story as interesting as possible and add lots of excitement. • Give your child a few simple directions to follow: "Put your hands on your shoulders, smile and hop forward two steps." Once your child understands, you can add the "Simon Says" • Bath Math: Fill the tub with water and add plastic containers of different sizes (no glass, please). Pick up several containers and start asking questions: Which holds more water? How many cups of water will it take to fill this container?
Social and Emotional Development
• Consider enrolling your child in a preschool or an organized play group. • Take your child to a park or other place where you will find lots of children and encourage your child to play with the other children close to his/her own age. • Help your child to tell others how he/she is feeling and what he/she needs. • Help your child learn to use words – not force – when he/she is angry. • Encourage your child to share his/her toys with others • Try new things with your child (example: foods, games, books, travel, visit to the library, museum, etc.) • Expect your child to put things away when he/she is done with them. • Help your child make good decisions. • Allow your child to accept mistakes and learn from them. • Say “please” and “thank you” often, your child will, too. • Assist your child in playing fair by following rules and taking turns. • Ask questions that encourage more than a one-word answer. • Practice leaving your child with others (an evening out, at a friend’s house to play, etc.) If this is difficult, remind your child you will be back soon. You may also wish to leave a picture of you or a comfort object such as a stuffed animal or blanket for your child to love while you are gone. Remember that your child will cry for a very short time after you leave. Make your goodbye short and leave right away after telling your child goodbye. This is important for your child to learn before coming to kindergarten.
Self-Help Skills
Teach your child how to do the following:
• Dress him/herself including buttoning, zipping, snapping, buckling, tying and lacing. • Help in choosing his/her clothes. • Establish a special spot for items your child will need at school the next day (example: backpack, lunch money). • Provide a special box or basket for any papers coming home from school. This way you won’t miss important messages! • Recognize body parts: hands, feet, arms, elbows, knees, etc. • Follow three directions in a row: for example, “Stand up, walk to the cupboard and bring the book inside the cupboard to me.” Expect your child to listen carefully and do exactly as you say. If your child has trouble at first with three directions, begin with two directions and work your way up to three.
Motor Skills
Gross Motor:
• Take your child to play in a park. • Teach your child how to ride a tricycle or bicycle. • Encourage your child to play non-competitive sports if he/she is interested. • Provide opportunities for your child to play in wide-open spaces. • Demonstrate and encourage your child to run, skip, hop, gallop, balance on one foot and jump freely. • Give your child a jump rope and teach him/her how to use it. • Encourage your child to practice bouncing, throwing and catching a large rubber ball.
Fine Motor:
To develop small muscle control, allow your child to use the following:
• Scissors • Pencils, pens and crayons • Paints and paintbrushes • Playdough • Beads and tweezers • Duplo and Lego blocks
Help your child learn to recognize the numerals from 0 – 20.
Point out the basic shapes: circle, triangle, square, rectangle, diamond, and oval. Help your child look for these shapes around the home.
Teach your child the basic colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, brown, black, purple, pink, gray, and white. Help your child look for these colors around your home.
Ask questions that will help your child compare things: Which is biggest? Which is smallest?
Help your child understand where things are. (The book is under the table. The cloud is over the house. The tree is between the garage and the house.)
Play simple counting games. Some examples are given in the back of this book.
Writing
• Have materials in your home to encourage writing and drawing, (paper, markers, pens, crayons, colored pencils, sidewalk chalk). • Encourage your child to write in whatever way he/she is able. The writing won’t look like grown-up writing at first, and your child will need lots of praise while he/she is learning. • Reversing letters and numerals are common and normal at this age. Children at this age are much more concerned with how the letter looks overall rather than how it’s placed on the paper. • Teach your child to write his/her first name. The first letter of the name capitalized and the rest of the letters in lowercase. • Make sure your child is holding the pencil comfortably in the hand of choice.
Language
Language is the key to learning. You can help your child develop language by doing the following.
• As you take a walk, talk about things you see. • While traveling in the car, point out interesting things. • Buy or make hand puppets. Help your child put on a puppet show. • Talk about familiar items in your home to help children learn that things have names. Make labels to show that the names can be written down as words. • Limit your child’s TV viewing. Children who are watching television are not playing outside, thinking, or being creative. When possible, watch television with your child. Talk about what you’ve just seen. • Help your child to say his/her first and last names, as well as your phone number.
Reading
• Read to your child nightly for 10 to 15 minutes. Show your child how to read from left to right and top to bottom. You can do this by moving your fingers under the words as you read to your child. • Encourage your child to read the words in the world around him/her (stop signs, restaurant signs etc.). • Teach the alphabet song (make sure they’re singing the alphabet clearly; “lmnop” is not one letter). • Help your child recognize all letters, uppercase and lowercase.
With the recent adoption of the Common Core State Standards, we ask that you please familiarize yourself with these academic standards for the Kindergarten level. More information can be found under the Common Core State Standards link.
st 1 DAY OF SCHOOL / KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION
First day of school / Kindergarten Orientation will be September 5, 2017. This is a very important date for incoming kindergartners and their parents. This will be a great opportunity to meet the classroom teacher, learn about procedures, schedules, busing, lunches and many other important kindergarten issues. It is imperative that all incoming kindergartners and their parents attend. Please plan on approximately 1 hour.
You will be receiving a letter in mid-August giving you more information about the first day of school / orientation, including your scheduled time, your child's teacher assignment for the year and supplies needed for kindergarten. You will be asked to bring all supplies on the first day of school / kindergarten orientation.
A backpack is a must for kindergarten and needs to be brought on the first day of school / orientation. At that time the backpack will be tagged with your child's name, address, phone number, parent's name, teacher's name, mode of transportation home and bus numbers if needed. The tag will remain on the backpack all year. Backpacks need to be brought to school EVERY DAY throughout the year. For safety reasons we ask that you do not send backpacks with wheels.
SESSION SCHEDULES
AM Session Monday 9:20 am to 11:40 (late start schedule)
Tuesday through Friday, 8:55 am to 11:40 am
PM Session Monday through Friday, 12:20 pm to 3:05pm
M,W,Th Session Monday, 9:20 am to 3:05 pm (late start schedule) Wednesday, 8:55 am to 11:45 am Thursday, 8:55 am to 3:05 pm
T,W,F Session Tuesday, 8:55 am to 3:05 pm Wednesday, 12:20 pm to 3:05 pm Friday, 8:55 am to 3:05 pm
Inclement Weather
When weather creates hazardous road conditions school may close for the day. School closures are announced between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. on the following radio stations: KVNI, KJRB, KCDA, KHQ, KGA, KXLY, KDRK, and on the main television stations – KREM, KXLY, KHQ
Drop Off and Pick Up
Please drop off and pick up your child outside the front door.
For safety reasons, we ask that you exit your car and meet your child at the front of the school. The teacher can then identify who is picking the child up and the child will not be out of adult supervision.
Attendance
Regular attendance is a must if our school is to do the best possible job of educating your child. If your child misses 10 days of school, a letter will be sent to you from the school principal. This helps you keep track of the number of days absent and serves as a reminder of the importance of your child’s education.
We ask that when your child will be absent from school, you notify the office. If your child attends the morning session or the alternate full day session please call between 8:00 and 9:30 a.m. Please call before 1:00 p.m. for the afternoon session. Because we are concerned for the safety of your child, if we have not heard from you and your child is not in school, we will call to make sure your child is at home.
Checking Your Child Out During the School Day
It is policy that you first check with the office and sign your child out. Your child then will be brought from his/her room to the office. Students will not be released to anyone other than those authorized in our file.
Visitors and Volunteers
For your child’s safety, everyone entering the building must check in at the office, sign in, and get a visitor’s badge. The badge needs to be visible all the time that you are in the building.
SCHOOL RULES AND POLICIES
Rocks/Snowballs
If a child has a rock in his/her hands or in his/her pockets and is seen by an adult, he/she will be brought to the office. The first time this occurs, the child will miss their next recess. For repeat offenses, the child will miss recess and may be assigned community service, or “rock detail” with a playground supervisor during their scheduled recess time. Parents will also be contacted. Please talk with your child about this rule.
Toys
To promote optimal learning, we ask that all toys remain at home.
No Weapons
The Federal Gun-Free Schools Act and Idaho’s weapon law mandate schools enforce a “zero tolerance” weapons policy. We ask that you do not allow your child to bring a weapon of any kind, toy or real, to school. Bringing a weapon to school may result in suspension.
Head Lice Policy
Post Falls School District #273 Policy No. 505.6
Head lice (Pediculosis) are a highly communicable pest that are easily transferred from one person to the next, either by direct contact or through personal articles such as combs, hats and clothing.
Post Falls School District maintains a "nit-free" head lice policy . Adults and children will be excluded from school if lice or nits (egg cases) are present. When lice or nits are detected, the student will be isolated, and parents or designees will be notified to pick up their child(ren) from school.
Before readmission to school, the student must be transported to school by a parent or designee to be checked by a designated school employee to assure that the child(ren) is nit-free.
Recess and Stay-In
All children will be expected to go outside for recess. The fresh air and a chance to unwind will make students more productive in the classroom. We recommend that children be prepared each day for the weather.
When there are unusual circumstances and a child needs to stay in for a day, a note from a parent needs to be brought from home (without a note, the student will go outside with the other students).
Medication
If your child must take medication at school, the office must have a signed “authorization to administer medication” form on file. These are available through the school office. All medication is kept in the office and should not be sent to school with the child. This includes cough drops.
Money
If you send money to school with your child, please put it in an envelope with the following information: child’s name, teacher, and what the money is for, on the envelope.
Clothing
• Send your child in comfortable clothing appropriate for the weather. Kindergarten students get messy and are very active so comfort is a must! Sneakers are the preferred shoes and shorts underneath dresses allow full participation in all activities. • Please send your child to school each day with a regular-sized backpack. For safety reasons we ask that you do not send backpacks with wheels. This will insure that all important items will be transported safely to and from school. Please check your child’s backpack each night for important papers. • Please label all of your child’s clothing articles and backpacks with his/her name. • Please check our lost and found periodically. It is located outside the office.
T-shirts
Each Wednesday is the day we wear our school shirts. The school’s T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts are available through: http://www.momentumink.com/
Your order will arrive at the school when the shirts or sweatshirts are made.
Fundraising Activities
We sell popsicles on Wednesdays, for 50 cents. The money raised from the popsicle sales goes directly back to the classroom teachers for classroom materials.
We receive a small percentage from Leo's Photgraphy through our picture sales.
The Frederick Post Kindergarten also hosts a Family Fun Nights at Triple Play.
We also have an Adopt-A-Class program where a business or family can adopt a class. We will be sending out more information on this on the First Day of School/Orientation.
Frederick Post Kindergarten Parents Advisory Council
One representative from each teacher meets with the principal every month to share information and concerns. You are encouraged to share any concerns you have with your representative.
We encourage you to become an active member of your neighborhood elementary school PTA/PTO.
Volunteers
Parents, relatives and friends of the Frederick Post Kindergarten are encouraged to help at the school. We encourage you to discuss this option with the classroom teacher and read our guidelines.
If you have just an hour, once in a while, or you wish to work at home, please check with the office. We always seem to have things that need to get done and we would love to have your help.
Support Staff
Frederick Post Kindergarten is privileged to have personnel who are available to give special assistance, as needed.
Title I – provides “early intervention” for students who are in need of additional help with their academic work.
Special Education – works with identified students who are significantly developmentally delayed or are physically challenged.
Speech Pathologist – works with those having speech and language needs.
Counselor – works with students who are in need of assistance because of some turmoil in their lives or are having a behavior problem. The Idaho Reading Initiative, enacted by the Idaho Legislature, was designed to ensure that all children in the State of Idaho will master the skill they need to become successful readers. It is our goal at the State Department of Education to work with you, your child’s teacher school and administra-tors to promote his/her reading success!
Your child’s teacher and school are the best resources for information relating to your child’s academic success.
What is the IRI?
The IRI is a screening assessment given to Idaho students in grades kindergarten through 3rd grade, at least twice a year, fall and spring.
The most critical skills used to predict future reading success are assessed by trained proctors at each grade level.
What does it mean?
The IRI is a screening tool used to identify students’ basic reading skills. It provides an early warning as it identifies students who may be “at risk” for reading difficulty.
Idaho Statute
Idaho Statute 33-1615 requires all public school students in K-3 to have their reading skills assessed. The purposes of this assessment is to identify students who may be at risk for reading difficulties. The kindergarten assessment includes reading readiness and phonological awareness. Grades 1, 2, and 3 tests for fluency, comprehension, and accuracy of the student’s reading.
Definitions
Screener: A gauge or predictor of reading ability or future reading ability.
Formative Assessment: A wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in-process student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course.
Interim Assessment: is a form of assess-ment that educators use to (1) evaluate where students are in their learning progress and (2) determine whether they are on track to performing well on future assessments, such as standardized tests or end-of-course exams.
Summative Assessment: are used to evaluate student learning, skill acquisition, and academic achievement at the conclusion of a defined instructional period-typically at the end of a project, unit, course, semester, program, or school year.
For more information you can contact
Stephanie Lee at [email protected] or 208-332-6800
Idaho State Department of Education
650 West State Street
Boise, ID 83720-0027